The death of the house party?

New research has revealed that while three quarters of Britons are happy to attend house parties, just 38% would be happy to throw a house party at their own home.

The fear of items being broken, floors/sofas being stained and the after-party clean-up are top of the list why Britons haven’t and won’t throw house parties.

Britons polled in a recent study confessed that they aren’t interested in throwing parties at their homes for fear of damage, strangers turning up or upsetting the neighbours. Others stated that they’ve seen things at other parties that they simply wouldn’t want to see happening in their home.

The survey was carried out by home interiors specialist www.hillarys.co.uk. 2,394 Britons aged 18 and over, all of whom stated that they lived in their own home and had been doing so for at least 12 months – whether paying rent or mortgage – were quizzed about their home habits and how they celebrated moving into their home.

Initially all respondents were asked ‘Did you ever throw a house party at your parents’ home when you were younger?’ to which almost two fifths of respondents, 38%, confessed that ‘yes’ they did. When asked if they had ever attended other house parties, 74% said that they had – showing that they were more likely to attend one than throw one.

All respondents were then asked, ‘Since moving into your own place, have you thrown a house party, or at least had a house warming party?’ to which two thirds of respondents (62%) confessed that they had not.

All those who stated that they had not thrown a house party were asked why. When provided with a list of possible responses and told to select all that applied, the top five answers were revealed as follows:

Don’t want to risk items being broken - 71%

Don’t want to risk carpets/sofas being dirtied/stained - 55%

Don’t want to have to clean up the day after - 50%

Don’t want to run the risk of strangers turning up - 36%

Don’t want to upset the neighbours by making too much noise - 24%

Furthermore, 55% of respondents who had attended house parties at other people’s homes admitted that they’d either seen or had caused damage of some sort during the get together. A further 25% confessed that they’d seen things at a house party that they wouldn’t like to see taking place in their own home, including sexual encounters and drug taking.

According to the poll, of those who stated that they had thrown a party in their own home, it was revealed that the average cost to do so (including food, drink and decorations) was £175, with the average after-party cost (including the clean-up and repairing damaged items) revealed as £85.

Tara Hall, spokesperson for www.hillarys.co.uk, said: “Our home is our safe haven – it’s completely understandable that people don’t want others encroaching into their space and causing damage. But a party is a great way to get everyone together and it can be cheap compared to a big night out. So give the house party a second chance... Just perhaps with some plastic covers for the floors and sofas!”